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60-day check-in questions for your new hires

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Are you conducting 60-day check-ins with your new hires? They’re a great opportunity to ensure your new team members are making a good start in your organisation and leverage feedback to improve your processes. Here’s a list of 60-day check-in questions for your new hires, to guide you in your conversations. 

It’s exciting to welcome a great new hire into your organisation to benefit from their skills and experience, and add to your existing teams and culture. You may have already conducted a 30-day check-in. The 60-day mark is another good opportunity to assess their progress and ensure they’re feeling challenged and engaged. 

By understanding if your new team members are meeting their targets and feeling fulfilled in their role, you can provide them with the support and attention they need and deserve, and avoid the negative consequences of needing to rehire. In addition to assessing their performance, take the time to understand and measure their happiness at work and within your culture. You can also use their feedback to improve your employer branding strategies and your onboarding and training process for future hires. 

60-day check-in questions for your new hires

  • What do you like most about your team and our organisation? 
  • Are we meeting your expectations? Is your job what you expected it to be?
  • Have you experienced any issues in meeting your responsibilities? If so, what are they?
  • How did you find your experience coming onboard with us? 
  • Did you have any positive or negative feedback about the process? Is there anything that you recommend we continue doing or change for future hires? 
  • Do you feel confident that your training has set you up for success? 
  • Do you have all the information, tools and resources you require to perform your job well? 
  • Do you feel challenged in your role? 
  • Do you feel fulfilled in your role and want to stay with us? 
  • Do you feel as if you have all the support you need to be successful in this role? Is there anything else we can do to help? 

Conducting 60-day check-ins will ensure your new hires make a great start in your organisation and helps you leverage feedback to improve your processes. Use these catch-ups as opportunities to provide support, understand challenges from their perspective and obtain recommendations for improvement. 

Looking for more advice ways you can improve your employer brand? Have a read of our employer branding guide or call us to speak to a specialist on 1300 366 573.

Should Australia adopt name-blind recruitment policies?

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name-blind recruitment

Should Australia adopt name-blind recruitment process?

Following recent terror attacks at home and abroad, key figures in the Muslim community are encouraging employers to give young Muslims a chance in the workplace.

Muslim candidates are claiming it’s become increasingly difficult to secure job interviews or progress through the job application process, with some suspecting an element of discrimination based on their Arabic sounding names.

It has been suggested it might be time for Australia to adopt ‘name-blind’ CVs, so hiring managers won’t be able to discount a Muslim candidate, or a candidate of any other ethnicity, on the basis of religion or cultural background.

In an address in Melbourne late last year, Australia Post CEO Ahmed Fahour, revealed the past 18 months had been particularly challenging for Australia’s Muslim community in the wake of increased activity from ISIS in the Middle East and following a number of terrorist attacks committed by Islamic extremists.

Fahour is now urging companies to support trainee schemes targeted specifically at young Muslims, to give them a leg up with employment and provide them with the foundation for a bright future.

Companies in the UK have already adopted a name-blind policy, with Prime Minister David Cameron pledging his support for a pilot program for employers to receive name-blind applications for graduate positions. Companies participating in the program include some of the UK’s biggest employers such as Deloitte, HSBC, the BBC and the NHS.

It is hoped the introduction of name-blind recruitment processes will help prevent unconscious bias and ensure that job offers are made on the basis of potential – not ethnicity, religion or gender.

The UK government hopes the change will prevent discrimination against those with ethnic-sounding names, based on stereotypes. So should Australia take the same hard line stance and introduce name-blind recruiting?

Employment Office Managing Director Tudor Marsden-Huggins says it’s a question of whether the existing state and federal legislation governing equal opportunity employment and anti-discrimination are functioning appropriately.

“The laws are in place to prevent any overt workplace discrimination on the basis of gender, ethnicity or religion, but as far as the recruitment process goes, it is very possible for the issue of name bias to fall through the cracks and not be under the same level of scrutiny as the interview stage,” he said.

And the data backs up claims that name-based discrimination, whether it’s unconscious or deliberate, is taking place in Australia.

In a 2010 study conducted by the Australian National University, economists sent out 4000 fake employment applications, which revealed the applicants with Anglo-Saxon names had significantly higher call-back rates. Applicants with Middle Eastern names had the lowest rates.

Marsden-Huggins says eliminating candidates based on their name is not only illegal and unethical, it can also result in wider ramifications for the organisation.

“Census data tells us one in four Australians are born overseas and over 40% of people have at least one overseas-born parent. If employers are eliminating applicants based on names they’re not only discriminating unfairly, but they are also closing themselves off from a wide pool of great candidates,” he said.

Marsden-Huggins says to avoid undue name bias, it is important to include tailored online screening questions before candidates reach the CV assessment stage.

“Using online e-recruitment software, it’s possible to ask candidates to submit answers to a series of tailored screening questions before they upload a personalised CV. This means a hiring manager can assess a candidate’s suitability based solely on their responses, without external factors such as name, ethnicity or gender playing a role.

“For now, Australian organisations have not implemented a name-blind recruitment process, but all employers should be mindful of their obligation not to discriminate based on name and the potential religious or ethnic backgrounds those names infer. You could not only be in contravention of the legislation, you could also be missing out on your next great hire based on a stereotype,” he said.

Top 5 Interviewer Mistakes

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In an interview setting we’re often so focused on how the candidate is performing, we don’t stop to consider the mistakes we might make ourselves as recruiters.

There can be serious consequences when employers don’t conduct an interview well, from losing strong candidates to making wrong hires.  Bad interviews can also taint an organisation’s employer brand, or in cases of serious misconduct or discrimination, result in legal action.

A candidate’s interview is such an integral stage of the recruitment process and is where impressions and decisions are made by both the employer and the candidate. Here are the top five mistakes interviewers make.  Now you know what not to do in your next candidate interview.

Top 5 Interviewer Mistakes:

  1. Being unprepared

Hiring managers often assess a candidate’s level of knowledge of the role and organisation in an interview, but it’s important to make sure you also prepare before the meeting.  If an interviewer hasn’t read a candidate’s CV it makes the employer look bad and it makes the candidate feel like just another number, rather than a person. While candidate research may be time consuming, particularly during bulk recruitment periods, understanding your candidate’s work history is essential and will allow you to properly probe into areas of interest.

  1. Saying something discriminatory or that could be perceived as discriminatory

While it’s an obvious point, recruiters should be cautious of saying anything that could be interpreted as discriminatory by a candidate. For instance ‘get-to-know-you’ questions with any reference to age or family situation, while harmless in a social setting, can be detrimental in a professional interview. Questions might later be used against you if an unsuccessful candidate feels any prejudice was at play, so ensure you stick to the facts of the role and the candidate’s relevant skills and experience to avoid ambiguous personal questions.  Stay away from questions about age, race, relationship status, family situation, pregnancy, sexual orientation and religious beliefs.  It’s also a good idea to avoid asking about a candidate’s political beliefs or union memberships.

  1. Interrupting candidates

It’s a faux pas in any conversation setting, but in an interview situation it’s particularly impolite. Candidates will be nervous in an interview and it’s extremely off-putting to be interrupted by the interviewer. If you’re a recruiter frustrated by a chatty candidate and you’re conscious of time constraints, wait until they’ve finished their sentence, say thank you and ask your next question. Perhaps remind the candidate to stay on point, but try not to interrupt.  Interrupting candidates can result in using unnecessary leading questions to hasten the interview process and can provide leading information for the candidate provide the preferred response.  It’s much better they come up with it on their own.

  1. Setting false expectations

As an interviewer you need to be comfortable with a candidate being uncomfortable if they’re not providing satisfactory answers. Being polite by using generic positive verbal cues can set the wrong expectation. For instance, if a candidate responds to a question and you’re not happy with the answer but still reply with ‘great, thanks,’ as you move on to the next question, you’re telling the candidate they are great when really you’re intending it is a passing comment. Ensure you limit your linking sentences to ‘okay, thank-you,’ so you don’t give too much away.

  1. Promising something to the candidate

It is very important to find a balance between showing enthusiasm for a strong candidate and overpromising. No promises should be made to an applicant until all candidates have been interviewed and all hiring managers have been involved in the decision. Recruitment is an ever-changing sphere and until you’re in a place to make an offer of employment be sure to show your receptiveness to the candidate without promising they will progress in the recruitment process.